In order to determine the adequacy of a fiber optic connection, such as the fiber optic connection disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,011,454 which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety, it is useful to measure the insertion loss of the fiber optic connection in order to verify that it is within acceptable limits. U.S. Pat. No. 4,360,268 (the '268 patent) discloses the use of an integrating sphere to directly measure the amount of scattered light at a single point radial to the fiber optic juncture. U.S. Pat. No. 7,192,195 (the '195 patent) discloses the use of one or more fiber optic strands to collect light and guide it to a measurement device. However, even measuring the scattered light at multiple locations still may not enable an accurate measurement of the total amount of scattered light because the light may not scatter evenly or in the direction of the finite number of light collecting points. Thus, it is unlikely that the total amount of scattered light will be measured by a limited number of light collecting points.
As a result, it is desirable to provide a method and apparatus that can measure the total amount of scattered light without extrapolating the total amount from a limited number of light collecting locations.